Multilayer components of the kind mentioned in the introduction are generally produced by so-called multilayer technology. With the help of this technology, for example, multilayer varistors or ceramic capacitors can be produced. In order to give these components specific characteristics in view of their application, it is often necessary to integrate a resistor. Characteristics such as frequency behavior, insertion loss, or even the course of the terminal voltage can be varied in a positive manner when there is an electrical pulse coupled into a varistor. Known ceramic components also contain electrically conducting electrode layers, in addition to dielectric layers, and thus form a stack of superimposed electrode layers separated by dielectric layers. For example, such stacks can form capacitors or varistors.
Multilayer components of the kind mentioned in the introduction are known from publication U.S. Pat. No. 5,889,445, in which one external contact each is arranged on the front and the two long sides of the base body. These components are also known to those skilled in the art by the name “feed-through components”. Resistors are integrated into such a known component, which resistors are integrated as a resistance paste along a rectangular path between two ceramic layers. They connect an external contact of the component to an electrode layer that belongs to a capacitor integrated into the component. The resistor structure is located in the same plane as the internal electrodes needed for constructing a capacitor. Series circuits of capacitors and resistors according to the state of the art can thus be integrated into a multilayer component.
The known resistor has the disadvantage that the material forming the resistor is printed along a wide path onto a dielectric layer. This makes it difficult to obtain large resistance values, as are normally desired. According to the state of the art, larger resistances are realized by using special resistor pastes. But, these resistor pastes have the disadvantage that they generally cannot withstand high sintering temperatures>1000° C. that appear during the production of ceramic components. Thus, according to the state of the art, multilayer components are limited to ceramic materials that can be sintered by means of the so-called “LTCC sintering process”. This involves a ceramic material that can be sintered at low temperatures<800° C. Naturally, according to this requirement, the selection of ceramic materials is very limited, which means a further disadvantage of the known multilayer component.